Weekend Edition: Brooklyn Smorgasburg

Saturday Mr. J and I were restless.  And as much as I am a planner sometimes a little spontaneity does a girl some good.  We decided to jump in the car and go to Brooklyn.  Brooklyn is about two hours away.  A bit far for lunch but we were ready for an adventure.  Sadly, we ran into a few hiccups.  

We forgot the EZ pass.  Thank goodness we had cash but where we were going needed cash at our destination.  Williamsburg needs some banks. We have accounts at two national banks with no luck.  There were some serious restrictions on cash back but thankfully Dwayne Reed has nifty Chase ATMs.  

You cannot tell from this photo but the people of Brooklyn are super hip.  Mr. J described it as another world where the culture is hipster.  There were tons of trendy dogs too.

We also hit traffic.  The volume of cars on 95 and pretty much everywhere around the city is incredible.  I used to have anxiety attacks when I had to drive myself down to the airports.  Mr. J drove yesterday. I know I married him for a reason.

View from Brooklyn of the Empire State Building

Finally parking was a royal pain.  More cars. A bit of construction.  Clearly there are some expert parallel parkers out there.  We chose a garage.  Paid a ton but at least they took credit cards.  

After much debate Mr. J opted for a turkey leg.

Why did we go to all this trouble? Well, the Brooklyn Smorgasburg of course.  This flea market with food vendors.  Lots of them.  

There is probably 50 some vendors lined up just like the ultimate farmer's market but we mainly premade foods.  There was BBQ, Bolivian, Ethiopian, Colombian, Seafood, Mexican, Pastries, Ice Cream, and even Jerk and Pickles. 

We must have walked around the entire place three times before deciding what we were going to eat.

I had Fried Chicken and Cheddar Waffles.  The Cheddar waffles part is what sold me.

Homemade S'mores anyone?  I got the Salted Sailor. Cinnamon graham cracker with vanilla bean marshmallow and caramel sauce.

We shared a drip coffee from the Blue Bottle Co.

And a doughnut from Dough. Cafe au lait.  It was marvelous.  I had two bites.  Best two bites of my life.

We had so much fun! I hope you had a great weekend too.

Here is what I was up to this week:

• Whole Wheat Pasta with Kale and Fried Eggs  
• Cheesy Pull Apart Bread 
• Salmon and Green Bean Salad for WIAW
• Pickle, Pickle
• Honey Almond Chicken 

Big Apple Photos

What a beautiful weekend in the city  I spent Mother's Day in New York City with my mother-in-law. It was their first time in the city and it was fun exploring some of my favorites with newbie eyes.

We had gorgeous springtime weather and tried to be outside as much as possible. 

Do you see that blue sky?  Loved it.  We hit of the Brooklyn Bridge.  Even though it was a bit crowed (when is it not) and there was construction I always get enamored with the construction of this massive bridge built way back when.

We took a little water cruise around lower Manhattan and checked out the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  It is hard to imagine what it must have been like for all of the immigrants who passed through these waters to their new home.  It is crazy, sad and exciting to think about all at once.

Flowers were in full bloom and smells so fresh. 

And the buildings continued to soar into the sky. I think I looked up so much my neck began to hurt. I know my feet were hurting by the end of the day.  We walked so much.

I tried not to be the crazy daughter-in-law taking pictures of everything we ate.  I happily just ate.  I was OK with that role this weekend.  I hope you are too.

Butter

Whenever I have a chance to get into the city I research the hottest, most noteworthy restaurants to see the options. Lots of things come into play before the final decision is made like price, location and dress code.  We don't typically get all gussied up for a day of walking the city, thus certain restaurants don't like our sneaker wearing feet in their restaurants.  For the most part, we can still find some great eats. 

I am normally the one to make the restaurant decision.  For this trip I came up with two restaurants I had been wanting to sample for a while.  In the end, after the group reviewed the menu options, we decided on Butter.  The executive chef is Alex Guarnaschelli.  She has a show on the Food Network, Alex's Day Off and is currently competing on Iron Chef.  She has an amazing ability to tell stories and describe food.  With her it seems more than just food.

I was excited to try out this new restaurant.  We were seated and quickly made our decisions.  Our appetizers arrived very fast and we ate them equally as fast. Clearly because I forgot to take any pictures. Sadly after that everything seemed to slide down hill. The over temperature of the restaurant was awful. It went from cold air blowing to hot air blowing and back multiple times.  I would go to shivering in my coat to almost sweating within 5 minutes and then back again. There was no regulation whatsoever.

After getting our appetizers so quickly we were all excited to try our entrees. We waited, and waited and waited.  We saw multiple tables receive and finish there meals, and these tables were seated after us.  After giving our waitress the death stare she finally came over and simply said its coming. Obviously something happened to our order because we ended up waiting more than 40 minutes between finishing our appetizers till our meals came out.  No apologies or explanations were given. She was completely blase about it.

The food was excellent.  I got the lamb shank and Mr. J got the NY strip steak. The presentation was beautiful. There was so many rich flavors.  Both dishes were served with a variety of root vegetables.  The meals felt earthy and warm, perfect for a winter night.

Would I go back?  Maybe.  It is hard for me to justify paying so much for a meal when the service is bad.  Going to the city for a meal like this is a big deal and having to wait so long and then not to have an explanation as to why is ridiculous.  It was also extremely uncomfortable to way so long when the temperature fluctuated so much throughout the night.

Christmas in NYC!

Merry Christmas! It has come somewhat of a tradition for us to trudge to the city during December to see the famous Rockefeller Center tree.

This weekend we did just that.  It was a beautiful sunny day and I think everyone had the same idea.  It was packed down there.

We didn't dare brave the area again at night.  It is about 100 million times worst at night. Either way you could still feel the magic in the air.

After all of that excited me a break was in order as well as a bit of a snack.  Bouchon Bakery recently opened and I couldn't wait to check it out.  Mr. J and I got treats from here back when we were wine to wine touring in Napa last spring.

There were so many options it was tough making a decision.  We ended up with quite the variety of treasures.

Macaroons, brownies, and holiday hohos oh my!

And no visit to NYC is complete without seeing completely strange.  At Barney's this year there is a portion of the store dedicated to Lady Gaga's Workshop.  They had chocolate shoes that were $95. Everything was complete ridiculous and very, very expensive.  Something I will never understand.

Restaurant Review: Fig and Olive

I mentioned a couple of months ago that March and April had a lot, many, ok a ton of birthdays for me.  I think birthdays are the greatest.  I get super excited for mine as well as any friends and family members.  I love to celebrate.  My thoughts are if you cannot celebrate on the actual day then you simply must extend the fun for the week or even the month. 

This weekend I was able to celebrate one of those birthdays. Thank goodness the gloomy weather held off for the most part so we could enjoy the city.  There was a little shopping at Sephora, always fun to do with a girlfriend.

Then there was a little show seeing...

Great show!  I love live theater and musicals.

Of course, being in the city always makes me excited sample the amazing food options.  I have been wanting to go to Fig and Olive for a while but the menu is somewhat on the lighter side.  Good for me but I could never convince Mr. J to try it out.  Lucky for me the birthday girl jump on the menu after I gave her a list of possible lunch options.  

There are about 5 locations in the US.  One in Melrose Place and the rest are in the Manhattan and Westchester. 

Glad to hear all diets start on Monday after yesterdays post because with started off with this sampler of bread and pasteries.

So delicious and it came with whipped sweet butter, strawberry jam and the signature fig compote.  We snacked on it throughout the meal and had some to take home with us.

I had the lamb panini on rosemary bread.  It was served with sea salt potatoes and a small salad. The sizing was perfect!

It ended up being triple layered and stuffed with veggies.  Very messy to eat but well worth the mess.  

The birthday girl choose the brunch option of a yogurt parfait.   It was layers with granola, whipped Greek yogurt, and fig compote.  The fruit made me very happy - so colorful!

The atmosphere of the restaurant was very chic and Mediterranean.  It reminded me of my visit to Provence, France.  

Don't be fooled by the empty tables.  They filled up fast and there was a full downstairs as well.  We got to be seated by the window since we ate early. 



There were tons of options I could have picked from paninis to tartlets to lots of crostini and veggie side dishes.  There were salads, soups, egg dishes as well as full entrees.  Prices were extremely reasonable about $9-15 for most lunch and brunch options.  The entrees were $20-30. 

What a great girl day in the city!  Happy, happy Birthday!

Fig and Olive

10 East 52nd Street

New York, NY 10022
Between 5th & Madison Ave.
212.319.2002

Celebrity struck!

I would like to say I am above celebrity. I don't really follow the gossip shows and magazines. Not that I am above flipping through them at the gym or doctors office. I just would never pay for it, nor would I go out and buy something just because so and so had it on the red carpet. I do however get a great kick out of seeing them. I don't get this opportunity often but I am always on the look out.


This is what was randomly on the street corner last weekend in New York. We were walking around Columbus Circle and we saw the Macy's Thanksgiving day big gigantic balloons. After a bit more walking there was whispers of a film shoot. Then there was talk of Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Casey Affleck and Matthew Broderick. Ben Stiller was in a different area and a bit farther away. The time I got the camera out he had disappeared.

Nope it is not Thanksgiving but it sure did feel like it. The things are gigantic!

My mom got a whole bunch more photos that were much better than these but alas she is a bit slower on downloading and email them off so this is what I have to share. We were no farther than 3 feet away. It was crazy and amazing and then it was done and I moved on with the day. Super cool experience though!

Delmonico's

The whole purpose of this trip was to celebrate my dad's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

My mom and I decided it would be a great way to celebrate by going to a tried and true NYC steakhouse. With a little research Delmonico's came to mind, after all a steak was named after the place.
I will warn you in advance that the pictures stink. The lighting was super bad and well this was not the kind of place you use a flash. They put us right in the middle of the whole place so there was no hiding it.

We started the night with the most delicious bottle of wine called Decoy by Duckhorn vineyards in Napa Valley. It was so good and the smell just took over the whole table.

I started with a Caesar salad split with my mom. They graciously gave us our own plates with a mini salad portion topped with an egg.

My mom and I also decided to spilt our entrees. There was two really good looking options on the menu. I don't think you can go to a NYC steakhouse without getting steak however, there was a halibut option on the menu that sounded so good. The solution was that my mom get the steak and I get the fish and we switch 1/2 way through. It was perfect.

The Delmonico steak was so good and tender. The portion was huge served with little crispy onion straws.

The halibut was served with Applewood bacon and topped with a rich cream sauce. It was plated on a pile of squash risotto with chucks of lobster in it. It was SOOOOO GOOD! I literally could only have 1/4 of it. Then I ate a bit more just to be sure.

The boys ordered a blue cheese wedge salad and sides of hash browns and twice fried French fries with their steaks. It was such a good evening. We left with hopes of Juniors cheesecake for dessert but got distracted by the Macy's window scenes. We also had hopes of Crumbs cupcakes. I don't know what happened to all of the desserts. Do you see the pattern of eating too much and not saving room for dessert?